TORONTO — Canada celebrated the sport of soccer on Sunday as the Canadian men won qualification for the 2022 World Cup.

They did it in style, hammering an overmatched Jamaican side 4-0 on a freezing day at BMO Field to improve their CONCACAF qualifying record to 14-1-4 in three rounds and end a lack of 36 years of men’s football showcase.

“I think this country, they never believed in us. Because we gave them nothing to believe in,” said coach John Herdman, the architect of Canada’s men’s success. “They believe now.

“And I think if we all support each other, now is the time for everyone to support football and unite. Because we can be a power. And it’s time.”

Qatar is waiting for this month of November and the rest of the world better watch out.

“We are the best team in CONCACAF,” said midfielder Jonathan Osorio.

“Now people believe,” added the Toronto FC veteran, shivering with cold. “And it’s amazing how much people believe in it. And it’s only going to get better. Now we want to go to a World Cup and really make a statement.”

Canada, who only needed a draw on Sunday to qualify, outscored their opponents 54-7 while posting 12 clean sheets in qualifying.

Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan and Junior Hoilett scored as the Canadians rocked out with the Reggae Boyz in front of a loud and proud crowd of 29,122. A Jamaican own goal in the 88th minute completed the scoring. And the margin of victory could have been much more lopsided.

For Herdman, who led the Canadians to a back-to-back Olympic bronze medal before taking charge of the men’s team in January 2018, it was a turning point.

“We are a football country,” he said. “We have a child (Alphonso Davies) who wins the Champions League final. We have players all over Europe. We have young children coming in. And we have just qualified for a World Cup. is legitimate country football.

“A women’s team that has won an Olympic gold medal. What more could you ask for? Now is the time.”

Canada (8-1-4, 28 points to lead the final CONCACAF qualifying round) dominated from the start, racking up scoring chances like firewood. The home side were leading 1-0 after 13 minutes and 2-0 at the break. It could have been 4-0 midway through the first half when the sun made its first appearance.

Jamaica (1-7-5, eight points) spent the afternoon in reverse. The game was over and dusted off after the first half.

The historic victory came 37 years after Canada qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico with a 1-0 victory over Honduras on September 14, 1985 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. they lost all three games without scoring a goal.

Canada soccer had its peak with the sixth-ranked Canadian women winning gold last summer at the Tokyo Olympics. Now the 33rd-ranked men, led by Herdman, have time to shine in Qatar, while extending their lead to the 2026 World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting with the United States and Mexico.

The Canadian men also had a chance to seal qualification Thursday in Costa Rica, but lost 1-0 after playing two-thirds of the match with 10 men following Mark-Anthony Kaye’s red card.

Costa Rica’s loss set the stage for Toronto’s celebration.

“I’m so glad we didn’t win in Costa Rica,” said a smiling Herdman.

“I’m so happy this is how it was meant to be,” he added. “So I know why the football gods wouldn’t let us score (in Costa Rica). It was for tonight.”

Canada will finish the qualifier on Wednesday in Panama.

Fans braved the bitter cold after the match to savor the moment with the players and team staff, who celebrated in midfield in front of a sign that simply read Qualified. The players, wearing t-shirts with Canada 22 on the back and We Can on the front, combined with fans on a Viking Clap, build crescendo.

There was even a message recorded on Davies’ video card, back in Germany where he is recovering from myocarditis, heart inflammation after a bout of COVID.

Former national team players like Paul Stalteri, Dwayne De Rosario, David Edgar, Lyndon Hooper, Julian de Guzman, Craig Forrest, Iain Hume and 1986 World Cup squad member Paul Dolan went on to form a guard of honor on the pitch as the players were introduced with 39-year-old captain Atiba Hutchinson the last man.

The celebration continued in the warmer climes of the Canadian locker room where cheers flowed and spas were popular.

Herdman had given his players a taste of the championship earlier in the day, taking them to the Toronto Raptors locker room at nearby Scotiabank Arena for the pre-game briefing.

“And I told them there was a group of men who made the decision to change their sport forever in that locker room,” he said, referring to the Raptors’ 2019 NBA championship. “And they (Herdman’s team) made that decision tonight.”

On a cold day, Canada came out hot and were rewarded for their dominance in the 13th minute when, after a lightning fast counter-attack, Hoilett squared the ball to Stephen Eustaquio who threaded the needle to place Larin behind defense. The Besiktas forward calmly slipped the ball past goalkeeper Andre Blake for his 24th goal for Canada, extending his national men’s goalscoring record.

Buchanan made it 2-0 in the 44th minute as Jamaica failed to manage a free kick the Club Brugge winger deserved after being brought down midway through several passes. A defender headed Eustaquio’s free-kick but it went straight to Jonathan David, whose cross fell at Buchanan’s feet in front of goal.

He celebrated the goal with his trademark backflip.

Hoilett made it 3-0 in the 83rd after Buchanan snatched the ball from a defender after a corner and fed the veteran Hoilett, who ran through the penalty area and beat Blake for his 14th goal for Canada.

Adrian Mariappa’s failed attempt to clear a Sam Adekugbe cross ended in the Jamaican goal to make it 4-0.

Also on Sunday, Costa Rica won 2-1 in El Salvador, the United States beat Panama 5-1 and Mexico won 1-0 in Honduras.

The results leave the United States and Mexico (both 7-2-4, 25 points) three points behind Canada with Costa Rica (6-3-4, 22 points) fourth.

The top three teams qualify for Qatar as representatives of North and Central America and the Caribbean, while the fourth runner-up faces a team from Oceania in an intercontinental match to see who will join them. Panama (5-5-3, 18 points), is out of contention in fifth place.

A blanket of snow greeted players and fans in Toronto when they woke up on Sunday, though most of it was gone by kickoff. Thanks to BMO Field’s underground heating, there was only a layer of white in some parts of the uneven terrain.

There were light gusts at kickoff. In a way, the conditions made it more Canadian.

” Our house. Our day. All of Canada is with you,” Canada Soccer tweeted in a video announcing the match, accompanied by the sounds of “Coming Home” by Diddy and Dirty Money featuring Skylar Grey.

The Canadians had faced worse in the snow in Edmonton last November when they defeated Mexico and Costa Rica.

It was still a cold and windy afternoon with minus five, feeling like minus -14 for the 4pm ET kickoff. This didn’t faze Larin, Richie Laryea or substitute Alistair Johnston, who were wearing short-sleeved shirts.

Canada’s flags flew proudly, with a few Ukrainian flags dotting the sold-out crowd.

Herdman made four changes to his starting lineup in Costa Rica, inserting defenders Scott Kennedy, Adekugbe and Doneil Henry and winger Hoilett. Adekugbe and Henry were suspended for the match against Costa Rica.

Goalkeeper Milan Borjan succeeded Hutchinson as skipper.

The Canadian men qualified the hard way this time around. While CONCACAF powerhouses Mexico and the United States earned a bye to the final round, Canada had to start from the bottom of the region.

Herdman’s team had to send Aruba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Suriname and Haiti just to reach the final qualifying round for the first time since preparing for France ’98.

“If we look at it the right way, it could be quite a story,” Herdman said prophetically in July 2019 when CONCACAF revamped its qualifying process.

Thursday marked the fourth anniversary of Herdman’s first game in charge of the men, a 1-0 victory against New Zealand in Murcia, Spain, in front of just 75 people. His men’s record now stands at 29-7-4 with the only losses to the United States (twice), Mexico (twice), Costa Rica, Haiti and Iceland.

Qatar, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Iran, Japan, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia , Serbia, South Korea, Spain, are already qualified in the 32 teams of the Men’s World Cup. Switzerland and Uruguay.

Canada has appeared in seven of the eight Women’s World Cups, only missing the inaugural event in 1991. The women finished fourth at the 2003 tournament in the United States.

Canada’s men were ranked 73rd in the world, compared to Jamaica’s 47th, when they started World Cup qualifying in March 2021. Today, Canada is 33rd while Jamaica is 62nd.

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on March 27, 2022.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press